goodbye isle of wight, hello vienna! - england day 12

my last morning on the isle of wight. i had packed most of my things the previous evening, so i was in no rush. one last walk along the beach - it looked like the beginnings of a pleasant enough day, though it was rather windy. i'd really gotten used to these morning walks - the wind, the cries of birds, the fresh sea air, the wet sand under my feet, the light ... i knew i'd miss this.

final breakfast at barnaby's, packing up the rest of my stuff, a last look out the window (ah! a view i'd definitely not mind waking up to every day!), and steve took me to sandown station. the little island train took me to ryde pier head, where i walked straight onto the ferry to portsmouth. waiting for my train to gatwick at the station, i sat outside, not even in he sun, and i did not freeze! it seemed that spring arrived just as i was leaving. plenty of time at gatwick airport, had a fabulous carrot & coriander soup at "giraffe" and the best ginger beer ever.

the flight was pretty uneventful. i had a window seat, which was nice, as it was mostly clear all the way to vienna. and i actually sat on the right side as we were flying over vienna ... the danube, the bridges, then i easily found the church near our home, and eventually made out our house! neat.

of course heinz came to pick me up at the airport - and i just knew that he'd bring at least part of our boy group (otto the croc, pruno the pig, heinrich the bear). i was right. otto and heinrich were perched on his shoulders. so dotty, my cute little travel companion, was reunited with some of her friends. it was pleasantly warm even at 08:45 pm. much nicer than the morning i left!

so, later than i'd thought, i was back home. despite the somewhat blah weather and missing out on several days due to illness, it was a good idea to go to england. i enjoyed being there. the hotel was nice, the owner extremely friendly, the vicinity to the beach was perfect. i loved the cream teas and it had been time for some fish & chips, too, anyway! anglophile that i am, i was happy to be immersed in the language, though there were days when i didn't talk all that much. i had some me time, and the illness forced me to slow down a bit, which perhaps wasn't so bad after all.

and now i'll go have another cuppa in honour of good old blighty, and a hobnob to go with it.


song of the day: goodbye england (covered in snow) by laura marling.

monkeys & owls, sunshine & rain - england day 10

i felt much better this morning. took a walk along the beach - it was terribly windy. i so enjoy watching the waves and the birds, and get a kick out of the patterns made by sand, wind, water ... the rivulets, the colours, foot/pawprints, and of course the ever changing light. breakfast time then, full english breakfast (minus the sausager), just as it should be. this is, after all, england. and when in rome, do as the romans do, right? though i must add i won't go so far as to walk along the beach barefoot in this kind of weather!

i made my way to the same area where i visited the butterflies yesterday, but today it was for quite different animals: mainly monkeys and owls, but also some other birds. the owl & monkey haven is an award-winning attraction that is home to rescued primates/monkeys and birds. i heard a few stories about some of the animals - they included accounts of neglected monkeys, one rhesus macaque that simply turned up in someone's garden on the mainland, owls that were ignored by their owl parents and were lucky enough to find human parents at the haven, monkeys that were "mobbed" by their own kind, etc.

i got to see a two year old male eagle-owl named ketch close-up, and to actually touch it. fascinating creatures. i must say the way they swivel their head around always slightly freaks me out - i swear i can almost hear the "snap!" sound of a broken neck! apparently owls are fairly lazy and won't leave their trees for days after they've eaten. there they sit until they start to feel hungry again ...

i had a good look around at the colobus monkeys (odd creatures, with their long whitish tails that fan out when they jump), rhesus macaques (such fun! and the noises they make! smelly though ... ugh), capuchins, marmosets (too cute!), langurs, gibbons, siamangs, eagle-owls, snowy owls, barn owls, tawny owls, the two buzzards, and the kookaburras. i learned something, i laughed, and took lots of pictures ... and (according to "when in rome ...) treated myself to some delicious clotted cream tea.

after a walk along ryde pier, i made my way back to sandown, where i went to the glassblower's round the corner and then had a pleasant chat with steve, the owner, in his overflowing gift shop. it looked like a pleasant evening, so i decided to go for another walk along the beach, grabbed my cameras, and ... as soon as i reached the beach (all of a minute away), guess what ... yep: rain! it's been like this all day today ... get on the bus: sun comes out; get off the bus: cold and windy or rain. but i didn't want to be beaten. i thought it might only be a two-minute shower. i was wrong. wrapping my big camera up like a baby, i marched on. and after only about 15 minutes, the rain stopped. yay! beautiful light, so clear, filtered by the clouds ... gorgeous. well worth it.

indian veg curry & garlic naan well deserved then! i was thinking about going out again to take some night-time pictures, but i think i've had enough rain ... ;) here's the only pic i have so far:


those eyes!


song of the day: l'anno che verrà by lucio dalla.

holidays 2012 - day 03: laundry, rooftops, city walls

we wake early after a good night's sleep and head to dubrovnik after a quick breakfast. once again we leave the car outside the centre and walk down the dozens of stairs.

we climb the steps up the city wall shortly after the ticket booth has opened, so it's still rather quiet. i'm grateful it's not all blue sky and merciless sun, but hazy and cloudy for most of our long walk around the old town.

heinz & i on the city walls


built between the 13th and 16th centuries - and certainly built to last - the city walls are dubrovnik's main claim to fame. all in all, they're over 2 km long and up to 25 m high - quite impressive. of course they offer great views of the old town they encircle and have protected for so long.

stari grad, framed


i'm intrigued by the glimpses of people's lives in this rather public place: laundry hung out to dry, open windows, pillows left to air, chairs in narrow backyards, little pots of herbs on mini balconies, residents having a smoke out the window.

backstreet balcony


there are also plenty of cats in more or less unusual places, some making for rather picturesque or funny scenes.

doorway with black cat


there are schools, sports grounds tucked away between walls, not even big enough for regular games of football.

sports ground with a difference


there are rooftops reminding me of venice, pockmarked and looking out of place with big, white satellite dishes. there are odd chimneys and broken roof tiles. somewhere below a band is playing jazzy music. the sea glitters, and kayakers on a day trip disappear behind lokrum island.

we make our way around rather slowly, joined by more and more visitors to this spectacular place, and overtaken by most. afterwards, the sun's out for good, and we enjoy some palačinki (pancakes) with ice cream in a narrow side street, just off stradun. more sightseeing in the old town follows,

detail, church


but we long for the beach and a nice long swim. lovely, lovely water! at night, we have delicious barbecued chicken, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and bread right in front of our tent, jealously watched by the campground cats and dogs.

photos of day 03

holidays 2012 - day 02: dubrovnik-bound

excellent sleep on the mattress, and we're up early (holidays, after all, are not for slackers!) to drive down to dubrovnik. there's still the highway till some place below split. i fall asleep very quickly and wake up somewhere in the middle of nowhere (and just in case you are wondering, no, it is heinz driving at the time, not me). off the highway, it's winding roads across the hinterland, at first dry and rocky, then a fertile plain opens up before us: the neretva delta, a paradise of orchards, fields, canals.

fertile lands


we stop at a fruit stand and sample just about everything there is, including honey-coated almonds and delicious peaches. a feast for our taste buds! with the shopping done, we move on to the magistrala, the coastal road - infinitely more beautiful than what you get to see along the highway. we enter bosnia & hercegovina around 01:30 pm. we stop in neum for petrol and a couple of pictures, leave BiH about 15 km down the road, and are back in croatia. very scenic road along the coast: cliffs, little villages built into rock, and always the deep blue sea. we drive past dubrovnik, stop for a few photos of the old town just south of the city.

first glimpses of the gorgeous city by the sea: dubrovnik


we find a campground ("laguna") in a small place called plat. with the tent set up and after a bite to eat, we are off down many stone steps to the beach in a small bay. nice swim! we decide to go into dubrovnik for dinner, where it's a walk down many steps to stari grad (the old town), pizza, and then a stroll along stradun in the heart of stari grad. strange to think i've been here before, many years ago, when things were very different in this part of the world. also intriguing to think how many pairs of feet / shoes have worn the cobbles so smooth.

stradun, looking liquid


it's a gorgeous, warm evening, i take photos of the old town, and on the way back to the campsite, also of dubrovnik, all lit up, from a distance.

the lights of stari grad, dubrovnik

photos of day 02

holidays 2012 - day 01: vienna to drage, croatia

early rise, and we're off around 07:40. on board are 2/3 of our boy group: otto, the crocodile & heinrich, the bear.

heinrich, the bear, safely tucked away in the food box


it's a day of driving, almost a shame on such a hot and sunny day: south towards the austrian-slovenian border at spielfeld, on to maribor (slovenia) and then zagreb (croatia). first glimpses of the sea near jasenice, a narrow strip between the mainland and pelješac.

the sea! the sea!


we leave the highway near zadar, find a campsite with the promising name "paradiso" in a small place called drage around 4.30 pm, and after setting up our tent, we go for a swim in the lovely water off the pebble beach. aaahhh! so nice after all those hours in the car!

late afternoon at drage


we have dinner at a local restaurant, apparently also frequented by locals. first taste of the local cuisine - meat, of course. bedtime at 10, first night on the brand-new mattress, which makes sleeping even more fun!

photos of day 01